Oakland, CA – This evening, Oakland was the site of two peaceful demonstrations that exemplified our city’s long tradition of raising community voices in protest without violence, destruction or mayhem.
“Tonight the Oakland Police Department chose not to enact the curfew order as the demonstrators were exercising their First Amendment rights in a peaceful manner,” said Interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer. “The curfew is a flexible tool that will be applied with discretion when dealing with crowds that create public safety threats or that require extraordinary resources after dark. It will allow those resources to be to where they are needed to rapidly respond to critical calls for service and protect our city.”
One group gathered at Fruitvale Village at 5:00 p.m. and marched peacefully around the Fruitvale District before returning to their starting point at about 6:15 p.m. At its largest, this group numbered about 150 people.
A second group began gathering at approximately 4:20 p.m. near the Oakland Police Administration Building. They stepped off at about 5:40 p.m. and marched around downtown Oakland on 8th Street, Oak Street, 17th Street and Broadway to reach Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. After pausing at FHOP, a large portion of the group dispersed, with the balance of 100 walking down Broadway to gather in front of the Police Administration Building. The group remained peaceful throughout the evening and dispersed shortly after 10 pm.
There were no arrests, no citations and no reports of violence, damage, looting or burglary. This allowed OPD to re-deploy resources throughout Oakland for service calls and high-visibility patrols in various neighborhoods to deter crime and restore calm and stability to our community.
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